ID :
37194
Thu, 12/25/2008 - 06:05
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/37194
The shortlink copeid
Will back Pak army in case of hostilities with India: Taliban
Islamabad, Dec 23 (PTI) Hunted by the US and NATO forces
for committing acts of terror in Afghanistan, the Taliban
Tuesday said they would back the Pakistan Army by deploying
hundreds of suicide bombers in case of any military action
with India.
Claiming that "thousands of our well-armed militants are
ready to fight alongside the army if any war is imposed on
Pakistan," chief of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,
Baitullah Mehsud, told The News daily by phone from an
undisclosed location.
Hundreds of would-be bombers had been "given suicide
jackets and explosive-laden vehicles for protection of the
border in case of any aggression by the Indian forces", he
said.
"The time had come, to wage a real jihad that the Taliban
had been waiting for," Mehsud, for whom the Pakistani and US
forces are on the look out claimed.
"We know very well that the visible and invisible enemies
of the country have been planning to weaken this lone Islamic
nuclear power. But the mujahideen will foil all such nefarious
designs of our enemies," he said.
This is for the first time Mehsud has admitted that
Taliban has marshalled thousands of fighters close to the
Afghan-Pak border and where Pakistani army has launched a
major operation to flush them out.
Mehsud said people might question how the Taliban would
fight alongside the Pakistan Army when the militants had been
fighting the force for a long time.
"Therefore, I want to make it clear that the army was
acting otherwise (in the past). But now it would fight for the
protection and survival of the country, which is why we will
support them," Mehsud said.
Mehsud, who was accused by former President Pervez
Musharraf of masterminding the assassination of Pakistan
People's Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto in December
last year, significantly said the Taliban would defend the
country's frontier with Afghanistan in the event of
hostilities with India.
He said he wanted to "assure the nation, government and
army that they should not worry about Pakistan's western
borders with Afghanistan" as "thousands of his armed fighters
had already been deployed to safeguard the strategically
important frontier".
Taliban fighters are ready to fight under the army's
command, he said, but remarked it would be better for the
military to "give them a separate sector or specify special
targets" for the militants".
Tensions have escalated in the region after India blamed
Pakistan-elements for the Mumbai terror attacks, which killed
over 180 people. India has asked Pakistan to take action
against elements, including the Lashker-e-Taiba terror group.
Though India has said war is not an option, Pakistan's
top leaders, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, have
said the country is prepared to face any aggression on the
eastern border. Several Taliban commanders have pledged their
support to the Pakistan Army in the event of hostilities with
India. PTI RHL
RKM
NNNN
for committing acts of terror in Afghanistan, the Taliban
Tuesday said they would back the Pakistan Army by deploying
hundreds of suicide bombers in case of any military action
with India.
Claiming that "thousands of our well-armed militants are
ready to fight alongside the army if any war is imposed on
Pakistan," chief of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,
Baitullah Mehsud, told The News daily by phone from an
undisclosed location.
Hundreds of would-be bombers had been "given suicide
jackets and explosive-laden vehicles for protection of the
border in case of any aggression by the Indian forces", he
said.
"The time had come, to wage a real jihad that the Taliban
had been waiting for," Mehsud, for whom the Pakistani and US
forces are on the look out claimed.
"We know very well that the visible and invisible enemies
of the country have been planning to weaken this lone Islamic
nuclear power. But the mujahideen will foil all such nefarious
designs of our enemies," he said.
This is for the first time Mehsud has admitted that
Taliban has marshalled thousands of fighters close to the
Afghan-Pak border and where Pakistani army has launched a
major operation to flush them out.
Mehsud said people might question how the Taliban would
fight alongside the Pakistan Army when the militants had been
fighting the force for a long time.
"Therefore, I want to make it clear that the army was
acting otherwise (in the past). But now it would fight for the
protection and survival of the country, which is why we will
support them," Mehsud said.
Mehsud, who was accused by former President Pervez
Musharraf of masterminding the assassination of Pakistan
People's Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto in December
last year, significantly said the Taliban would defend the
country's frontier with Afghanistan in the event of
hostilities with India.
He said he wanted to "assure the nation, government and
army that they should not worry about Pakistan's western
borders with Afghanistan" as "thousands of his armed fighters
had already been deployed to safeguard the strategically
important frontier".
Taliban fighters are ready to fight under the army's
command, he said, but remarked it would be better for the
military to "give them a separate sector or specify special
targets" for the militants".
Tensions have escalated in the region after India blamed
Pakistan-elements for the Mumbai terror attacks, which killed
over 180 people. India has asked Pakistan to take action
against elements, including the Lashker-e-Taiba terror group.
Though India has said war is not an option, Pakistan's
top leaders, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, have
said the country is prepared to face any aggression on the
eastern border. Several Taliban commanders have pledged their
support to the Pakistan Army in the event of hostilities with
India. PTI RHL
RKM
NNNN
